The first rose
by Hebiaczek
Summary: First a thief, then a lover, a wife and now a mother. Chikage has had many roles in her life and mastered her own poker face, but it gets put through a difficult test as she witnesses her son's very first performance - and not just any performance. It's a birthday one!


**The usual disclaimer is in order – I still don't own any of the MK characters, though I do hope we will get some more family memories moments in canon :)**

 **I don't think we ever got a date for Chikage's birthday, so since I've got this idea now, I figured – why not ;) I hope you guys won't mind :D**

 **Anyway – I wanted to make a little announcement. I feel really bad for neglecting you guys like I have through the past year, and talking with LadyShadow26 and hearing out her plans inspired me to make a resolution for this year of my own. Hereby I've decided that each month of this year I shall post a story or chapter. It is going to be tough (as you can see, I barely made it this month xD), but I shall prevail! (Yes, LadyShadow26 – you should feel guilty xD Still – I am grateful to you** ** _*bows*_** **)**

 **Also, as usual – big thanks to my lovely beta – madelita (the poor thing is going to get a whole lot more work because of me… sorry? xD)**

 ** _But, without further delay…  
Please enjoy and review~!_**

* * *

 **The first rose**

* * *

Chikage sat on a couch in the living room and fixed her gaze on her three-year-old son in front of her, dressed in a black tuxedo with a cute yellow bowtie, standing next to his father. Kaito spread his arms, mimicking Toichi's performance on stage.

" _La-ladi-s and ge-n… gen… gentt…_ " he stammered in something akin to English and blushed from embarrassment.

Chikage bit her lip to hold back a chuckle. She didn't want to discourage her son, but he was so adorable that she had trouble containing herself. Meanwhile, the boy cast a distressed glance at his father who leaned over, whispering in his ear.

"You're doing great, Kaito, but why not just settle for ' _my dear lady_ ' since you're performing exclusively for your mother?" It was a wonder how professional he sounded, as if the excessive cuteness didn't affect him at all.

The boy shook his head with a determined expression. "No! I want this to be perfect!" Chikage barely held back a coo, seeing tears brimming in his eyes.

Toichi gave him an approving hum and offered the correct phrase. "Alright, it's ' _ladies and gentlemen_ ' then."

Kaito nodded to that and turned hastily towards his mother again. " _Ladi-s and gent-mn!_ Prepare to be amazed!"

He clapped his hands, awkwardly trying to slip his fingers under his sleeves, which Chikage pretended she didn't notice. With a wide grin, the boy pulled on hidden strings, causing small confetti bursts to come out of his sleeves. The paper streams collided with each other initially, as Kaito tried to direct them away from his mother. Toichi slipped behind his son, gently maneuvering him so that the confetti would fly out as intended. Kaito looked up at him with a smile and as soon as the paper shower finished, he hastily reached into his inner pocket to take out a deck of cards – smaller than the usual, making them perfect for a child's hands. He looked down at them and taking far more care than usual, he started shuffling. He frowned deeply and bit his lip, as he tried to keep his focus on his task while slowly walking towards the couch.

It was a little surprising for Chikage. Despite his young age, Kaito was quite skilled with his tiny cards and usually only had some trouble with the normal-sized ones. Then again, this was the first time he was doing his 'big performance', so she blamed it on stress and didn't think much of it.

"Mom- I um, I mean, um-" He attempted to glance at her while still shuffling and nearly dropped a few cards. He stopped shuffling and pressed the cards together in a neat stack. "The lovely lady in the first row…" He glanced quickly at his father, who gave him an encouraging smile and a nod. "I want you to pick a card. Any card! But don't show it to me when you do!" He shoved his hand with the deck towards her a little too eagerly and nearly dropped the cards again.

Chikage had to use all of her strong will to hold back from giggling and showing her true emotions, keeping only a slight smile instead and raised eyebrows. "Oh? And what are you going to do with it, mister magician?" she asked with a tone brimming with curiosity, as she picked a card from the top, doing her best to not show she noticed the slight markings on it.

Kaito opened his mouth but only gasped and looked at his father again, who winked at him and raised a finger to his lips. The boy gave him a wide grin and looked back to his mother. "That's a secret! All you need to know is that I'm going to amaze you!"

She gave him an approving hum, giggling on the inside at her little boy's excitement. He was smiling so widely and nearly jumping in place. She looked down at the card, wondering whether Kaito would 'guess' what it was or whether he would ask her to put the card into the deck so he could 'find it' after shuffling. She held her breath, her eyes slightly widening at the sight of not a regular card but one signed with words written by an unsteady hand.

 _*Today is your birthday!*_

She looked back at Kaito who was already shuffling his little deck again. Chikage opened her mouth to ask a question, but before she could, the boy stopped shuffling and pulled out his tiny hands holding the cards stretched out in a fan.

"Pick another!" he piped up, abandoning his attempts at acting professional. Behind him, she noticed Toichi allowed himself to drop his mask a little and show an amused smirk.

She huffed a laugh and looked down at the cards. She did notice a few markings again, but wasn't sure what they meant and thus had no idea which one was she expected to take. Carefully she reached out and held her hand over one and slowly moved it over another, discreetly glancing at Kaito to see if his expression changed. He was starting to shiver with excitement the longer she made him wait.

Holding back a giggle, she took a random one and as expected, it had writing on it too.

 _*So I want to make you smile!*_

Chikage dropped her poker face and allowed a wide grin to spread her lips, while her heart grew. Glancing discreetly, she noticed that her little boy quickly took out a deck from his inner pocket and started to shuffle it. And he showed little to no clumsiness while doing it. She felt pride filling her - she knew her Kaito was sly, but she hadn't expected him to manage to trick her, even if just for a moment. With all that, she managed to figure out the whole trick but decided to keep it to herself to not disappoint her cute son.

Oblivious to his mother's revelation and grinning widely, Kaito shoved the deck towards her with excitement again. "Pick another!"

Without hesitation, Chikage took out a random card and curiously flipped it over to

 _*And hope you'll keep on smiling forever!*_

This simply melted her heart and she had to bite her lip to hold back tears of joy, worried that Kaito would misunderstand. She looked up to him just in time to see him conjuring up a rose from his sleeve. A trick she always loved having Toichi do for her.

"Happy birth-" he cut himself off and his smile dropped as he looked at the flower.

The poor thing was obviously mishandled – most of the leaves were broken and flopped down, while the petals were crumpled in several places. Overall, the flower made a rather pitiful sight. Chikage noticed that Kaito's chin started shivering and tears were pooling in his eyes as he stared at it. She wanted to hug him, assure him that she didn't mind the state the flower was in and say that she loved it like this, but Toichi was faster to react.

"Hum, that's unfortunate, but no need to worry, Kaito." He waved his slim fingers around the bud and closed his hand around it while kneeling next to his son and smiling at him. "Will you help me fix it?" Kaito nodded eagerly, despair already giving way to curiosity and excitement. "Hold the stem real tight with both of your hands and focus on the flower getting better." The boy did as instructed, nearly drilling holes in his father's hand with his intense stare, while Toichi started counting down in English. " _Three, two, one!_ " There was a small burst of smoke from around the bud as the magician lifted his hand.

Kaito blew the smoke away gently and gasped as he noticed that the flower was closed. Carefully he touched the petals making them open up. The tiny magician marveled at the beautiful flower all shiny with glitter. Kaito grinned widely and offered it proudly to his mother. Chikage smiled back at him and took it, wrapping her free arm around him in a tight embrace.

"Thank you, Kaito. This is the best birthday ever!" And she hardly meant the flower. In fact, she would have preferred the ruffled one, but she wasn't going to mention it.

* * *

Later on, they ate a cake and filled the evening with cheerful chatter and colorful tricks. They allowed Kaito to stay up longer, so eventually, he fell asleep on the couch, still holding on to a glitter-sprouting contraption he toyed with. Toichi lifted him carefully and carried him to his room.

Chikage opened the door for them and waited outside for her husband to quietly slip out of the room and close the door. When he did, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him tenderly. She felt him smile and slip his arms around her waist, gently pulling her closer to him. As they parted, he nudged her with his nose and motioned her to head back downstairs.

As they entered the living room, Toichi stopped and tightened his hold on wife's hand, causing her to look at him. He showed her a mysterious smile and raised his free hand. The moment he snapped his fingers, the lights went out, replaced by the soft glow of candles. Chikage might have been married to the world-class magician for five years already, but she never could get bored by his tricks. She looked back into the room and noticed that on the table the vase in which the rose from Kaito stoodwas now accompanied by two candles, a bottle of wine and two glasses.

Her gaze was drawn to the bits of glitter decorating the flower, shining in the candlelight, as Toichi guided her closer. Before they could sit on the couch, he cupped her cheek, gently turning her face towards him. His eyes shone with admiration and love, as their gazes met.

"You truly are the most beautiful gem, my dear." His long fingers caressed her ear, tucking a strand of hair behind it. "I am blessed that you agreed to honor my jewelry box with your presence."

She felt a slight blush creep on her cheeks, as she recalled him using the similar words to win her heart over, as he carried her to safety all those years ago. In fact, she was the one who felt blessed. Ever since she met Toichi on the Eiffel Tower, her life turned for the better, with his love and care, shielding her from her past. And just when she thought life couldn't get any better, Kaito appeared in their life, providing them with joy she never could have imagined herself experiencing.

His gentle hands grazed over her skin as he lowered them to hold her by her waist. He sighed softly before she could answer, a pleased smile never leaving his lips, despite the disappointed tone.

"And yet, I still fail at finding the perfect setting to complement your beauty…"

A little confused, she looked down at herself and noticed to her own amusement that somehow he had managed to change her clothes into an elegant dress and clasp a shining necklace around her neck. She chuckled softly, looking back at him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Though you do seem to enjoy searching~" He hummed in agreement, his teeth glinting in the light as his smile widened. "Somehow I think that there is no better setting for me than your arms."

Toichi huffed with amusement at these words and they linked their lips in another tender kiss, before sitting down. As he filled their glasses, she allowed her gaze to be drawn back to the rose in the vase. It was surely beautiful, but…

Before she could finish the thought, she saw movement from her husband out of the corner of her eye and looked at him. Chikage covered her mouth with her hand and felt tears brimming in her eyes, as she saw Toichi carefully holding out to her the damaged rose, which Kaito initially wanted to give her. Touched, she reached out to take it. The broken leaves and petals might not have looked as astonishing as the flower in the vase for anyone else, but for her, it was the most precious and beautiful thing.

As Chikage carefully wrapped her fingers around the rose in her hands, Toichi pulled her closer, so she would rest her head on his shoulder and kissed her forehead.

"I figured you might want to keep it. But make sure that Kaito doesn't find it." His handsomely trimmed mustache tickled her skin, as he spoke softly. "He was so determined to make this evening perfect for you…"

She chuckled, hearing the pride in his tone. Kaito might have his eyes only for his father, but it pretty much worked both ways, so much so that Chikage could nearly be jealous if she wasn't so happy about it.

"I know~" She looked down at the rose and gently caressed its broken petals. "Thank you for keeping it for me." She looked back at him. "The evening was perfect, but I still can't believe you had Kaito write three whole decks to prepare the trick. He'll only start going to the kindergarten this year, you know. He still has time to follow in your footsteps."

Toichi snorted as his smile grew and he cuddled her closer. "I know. I did want to prepare it for him or at least provide more help, but you know how stubborn he can be~ He's told me that every magician should prepare his own props, so he wanted to do it alone. How could I deny him in this case~?"

Chikage nested herself comfortably in his arms, a smile spreading her lips, as she easily imagined it. Her little Kaito was so cute when he wanted something, giving that determined look and trying to look serious by holding back the tears brimming in his eyes.

"He's going to be a great magician when he grows up." She looked up at Toichi. "Just like his daddy~"

He hummed softly and wrapped his arms around her tighter. "If he grows to be as nimble as his mommy, he's going to be even better than me."

She reached up to touch the back of his head and pull him closer. He leaned down and they allowed themselves to melt together into a kiss.

This truly was the finest birthday Chikage ever had. And the best thing was that there would be many like it to come.

* * *

 **I do hope you enjoyed this little story~ I certainly had fun writing it~**

 **Please do consider leaving a comment if you did enjoy it!**

 ** _See you next story~! *bows*_**


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